New engines are being pushed to the limits which require greater valve openings. This requires a higher lift which can only be accomplished with rocker ratios that extend beyond the limits of the present day rocker arms and space availability in the engine head(s). Geared rocker valve operations for internal combustion engines are known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,732,670 as well as U.S. Pat. No. 6,109,226. However, these available solutions have a very small gear ratio. Additionally, they can have backlash and require more space. This places additional demands on redesigning the valve train to accommodate the increased space needs.
It would desirable to provide a drop in solution that allows for high lift and higher rocker ratios than previously available without increased space needs in the engine or the requirement to redesign the entire existing valve trains.